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DIRECTORY

Best Independent Publishers in 2024

Showing 37 indie publishers that match your search.

Publisher of: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Fiction

Tin House’s legendary literary magazine may have shuttered its doors 2019, but their book publishing program is still going strong. Originally launched as an Bloomsbury imprint, Tin House Books spun off into an indie publisher in 2005. They release around 12 books a year often from first-time authors. Tin House Books publishes fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, and they have a penchant for lush, character-driven contemporary novels, playful essay collections, and memoirs that delve into complex relationships with uncompromising insight.

🔥 Hit title: Things We Didn't Talk About When I Was a Girl by Jeannie Vanasco

⭐️ Best known for: Essay Collections, Literary Fiction, Memoirs

💌 Accepts unagented submissions? No

Publisher of: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Fiction

The publishing wing of San Francisco’s legendary City Lights Bookstore, this small press started off with a bang — or rather, an obscenity trial. Their decision to publish Allen Ginsberg’s (in)famous Beat Generation classsic mired them in legal turmoil back in 1957. These days, City Lights is still publishing groundbreaking poetry, alongside other titles in fiction and nonfiction. While the staff is no longer getting arrested, they’ve maintained their commitment to politically challenging, artistically incisive work.

🔥 Hit title: Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsburg

⭐️ Best known for: Essay Collections, Poetry Collections, Memoir

💌 Accepts unagented submissions? Yes, in the form of Book Proposals. View guidelines →

Publisher of: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Fiction

This indie publisher got its start because Ezra Pound didn’t believe in a certain Harvard undergrad’s future in poetry. James Laughlin, then a college sophomore, went to the legendary modernist for advice. And Pound, who had been critiquing his work all semester, urged him to give up writing and “do something useful” instead. Thus New Directions Publishing was born. Laughlin retained a love for verse, so the budding press’s first books were poetry anthologies and collections by the greats — including Pound. These days, New Directions boasts a rich collection of fiction and criticism as well, especially works in translation.

🔥 Hit title: The Emissary by Yoko Tawada and Margaret Mitsutani (translator)

⭐️ Best known for: Literary Fiction, Poetry Collections

💌 Accepts unagented submissions? No

Publisher of: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry

Two New York-based creatives — sculptor Valerie Merians and writer Dennis Loy Johnson — founded Melville House in the aftermath of 9/11. Their inaugural title was a poetry anthology collection thoughtful, devastating responses to the attacks from the likes of Pulitzer winners and New York State poets. These days, Melville House continues to engage with both politics and high art. Their nonfiction titles tackle tough issues like CIA torture and presidential malfeasance, while their fiction program elevates emerging talents and underrated international writers — voices overlooked by corporate publishing.

🔥 Hit title: Cat Out of Hell by Lynne Truss

⭐️ Best known for: Journalism, Literary Fiction

💌 Accepts unagented submissions? No

Publisher of: Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Fiction

Press 53 titles are set apart by their fearlessly anti-commercial tenor. This indie publisher specializes in publishing poets and short story writers — in other words, the kind of authors who have trouble landing book deals at more mainstream presses. Their backlist shows an interest in experimentation: look for innovative forms like flash fiction, prose poetry, and linked short stories that come together to form a novel. Based in North Carolina, Press 53 looks for great writing by authors from all over the US.

🔥 Hit title: What the Zhang Boys Know by Clifford Garstang

⭐️ Best known for: Literary Fiction

💌 Accepts unagented submissions? Yes, in the form of Contest Entries. View guidelines →

Publisher of: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Short Fiction

WTAW Press is an independent, 501(c)(3) nonprofit publisher devoted to discovering and publishing enduring literary works.

⭐️ Best known for: Novels, Memoirs, Creative Nonfiction, Essays

💌 Accepts unagented submissions? Yes, in the form of online submissions. View guidelines →

Publisher of: Fiction and Nonfiction

Quirk Books is best known for publishing Seth Grahame-Smith’s brilliant decision to mash up Regency romance and B-movie horror, a title that ultimately became an NYT bestseller — not to mention a Lily James-led film. True to its name, this Philly-based indie press injects a whole lot of whimsy into the literary world. Quirk’s publishing program is unabashedly reader-centric, aiming to produce “objects of delight and desire”. Its titles — from humorous essays on celebrity to LGBT-affirming picture books — are clever, irreverent, and eminently giftable.

🔥 Hit title: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith

⭐️ Best known for: How-To Guides, Humor, Science Fiction & Fantasy, YA

💌 Accepts unagented submissions? Yes, in the form of Book Proposals, Full Manuscripts. View guidelines →

Publisher of: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Fiction

Married couple George and Marsha Braziller started publishing high quality, visually arresting art books in 1955 — an outgrowth of their passion for modern painting and the book clubs they hosted throughout the ‘40s. George, who won the trust of Nobel Prize Laureates like Claude Simone and Orhan Pamuk, passed away in 2017, aged 101. But the legendary press that bears his name remains in the hands of his two sons. These days, George Braziller has branched out beyond its art historical roots to publish widely in fiction and poetry.

🔥 Hit title: Faces in the Water by Janet Frame

⭐️ Best known for: History, Literary Fiction

💌 Accepts unagented submissions? No

Publisher of: Fiction and Nonfiction

This New York-based press kicked off with a series of Dive Bar guides that showed much-traveled tourist hubs, from San Francisco to Chicago, in an offbeat new light. These days, their list tilts much more towards literary fiction as well as political nonfiction: since the Bush years, Ig authors have been tackling issues from workers’ rights to PTSD care for veterans.

🔥 Hit title: Missile Paradise by Ron Tanner

⭐️ Best known for: Journalism, Literary Fiction

💌 Accepts unagented submissions? Yes, in the form of Queries. View guidelines →

Publisher of: Fiction and Nonfiction

One of the top indie publishers when it comes to literary accolades, Bellevue Literary Press has a Pulitzer under its belt, not to mention an International Latino Book Award and finalist nods from the National Book Award and the Kirkus Prize. Though it began as a project of the NYU School of Medicine, Bellevue Literary Press is now a fully indie nonprofit. Still, its med school roots remain clear in its mission: publishing thoughtful books that sit at the intersection of the arts and the sciences.

🔥 Hit title: Tinkers by Paul Harding

⭐️ Best known for: Biographies, Literary Fiction

💌 Accepts unagented submissions? Yes, in the form of Full Manuscripts. View guidelines →

Publisher of: Nonfiction

This edgy, Manchester-based press has furnished a voice for the counterculture since 1991. Originally founded to sell VHS copies of a controversial cult director’s latest release, Headpress hasn’t strayed far from its roots in pulp, grindhouse, and all things indie film. Beyond its sharp criticism of movie genres that don't get a lot mainstream attention, Headpress publishes widely across the spectrum of quirky nonfiction. Look through its list of titles, and you'll see everything from deep cuts on underground music to trippy meditations on European folklore.

🔥 Hit title: Bleeding Skull by Joseph A. Ziemba and Dan Budnik

⭐️ Best known for: Biography, Film, Journalism

💌 Accepts unagented submissions? Yes, in the form of Queries. View guidelines →

Publisher of: Fiction and Nonfiction

Forest Avenue Press focuses on literary fiction, occasionally dipping their toes into memoir as well. Regardless of genre, they aim to publish work animated by joy: not necessarily stories with happy endings, but work that shows off the author’s capacity for humor and freewheeling imagination. As a result, their catalogue abounds with oddball books, each with a broad palette of literary influences. An author-focused press with a relatively small stable of talent, Forest Avenue lavishes more time and money on marketing each title than your typical indie publisher.

🔥 Hit title: Queen of Spades by Michael Shou-Yung Shum

⭐️ Best known for: Literary Fiction

💌 Accepts unagented submissions? Yes, in the form of Full Manuscripts. View guidelines →

Publisher of: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Short Fiction

LA-based Rare Bird Books has a strong affinity for edgy, whip-smart titles on sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll: think candid sex worker memoirs and deep dives into the London music scene of the ‘70s. Besides nonfiction, Rare Bird widely publishes a number of genres over its various imprints. California Coldblood, for instance, presides over the press’s speculative fiction titles, while Barnacle Books takes care of crime fiction. As a whole, their titles are both progressive and compulsively readable, no matter if it’s PG-friendly or NSFW.

🔥 Hit title: Camgirl by Isa Mazzei

⭐️ Best known for: Memoir, Mysteries, Science Fiction & Fantasy

💌 Accepts unagented submissions? No

Publisher of: Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry

This storied Canadian publisher has been running out of Toronto since 1967. In that time, it’s grown from a one-man operation to a North American indie powerhouse, publishing prominent authors like Margaret Atwood and Michael Ondaatje. As it makes headway into its sixth decade of operation, House of Anansi remains as committed as ever to promoting Canadian literature, including French-Canadian books in translation, and work by First Nations authors.

🔥 Hit title: How Should a Person Be? by Sheila Heti

⭐️ Best known for: Memoirs, Literary Fiction

💌 Accepts unagented submissions? Yes, in the form of Book Proposals, Full Manuscripts. View guidelines →

Publisher of: Fiction and Short Fiction

This Manhattan-based press releases 90 books a year, making it relatively big for an indie publisher. It’s especially well-known among mystery connoisseurs for its Soho Crime imprint, which specializes in top-notch thrillers with a strong sense of place, a bit like traditional detective fiction crossed with travelogue. Whether it takes place in Denmark or Thailand, a Soho Crime title will set the scene so vividly you’ll feel you’re walking alongside the detective down those minutely rendered streets. Soho also publishes YA through Soho Teen and literary fiction through Soho Press proper.

🔥 Hit title: The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura and Satoko Izumo (translator)

⭐️ Best known for: Literary Fiction, Mysteries, YA

💌 Accepts unagented submissions? Yes, in the form of Full Manuscripts. View guidelines →

What is an independent publisher?

An independent publisher is a publisher not affiliated with any big corporations or conglomerates — meaning they operate independently. Think of them as the small businesses of the publishing world: they’re like chic local boutiques compared to the Macy’s and Nordstroms of the Big 5. Indie presses also tend to be small presses, an industry term for publishers making less than $50 million annually.

Independent publishers vs. self-publishers

There’s plenty to ruminate on when it comes to the distinction between indie publishing and self-publishing, but independent publishers are quite different from self-publishers. In a nutshell, indie presses operate on a far smaller scale than the billion-dollar publishing juggernauts, but they still fall under the umbrella of traditional publishing.

Resources for submitting to independent publishers in 2024

Not all independent publishers take unagented submissions, but many of them do, allowing you to cut out the middleman and make your writerly dreams come true all on your own. 

Of course, to make this happen, you'll have to be your project's best advocate. That means writing the best book you can, of course, but you shouldn't stop there — you'll have to study your target press's submissions guidelines and let them guide your next move.

Will you need to craft a killer book proposal, or brush up on your querying technique? Either way, we've got you covered. To give you a push on your path to indie publisher stardom, we've compiled some resources for putting together the perfect submission.

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Reedsy | Editorial Assessment scientist | 2023-10

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